ALIPAC Should Haitians Illegally in U.S. Get "Protected Status"?
Posted on Friday, January 15 @ 13:46:42 EST
Topic: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC
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 Critics: TPS for Haitians a Slippery Slope to Amnesty
As aid workers scramble to house and feed thousands of Haitians
affected by Tuesday's earthquake, the Obama administration is grappling
with how to process thousands of illegal Haitian immigrants whom U.S.
authorities had planned to send home.
The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement said Wednesday that they are halting all
deportations to Haiti indefinitely. But the agencies have not, however,
granted temporary protective status to Haitians living illegally in the
United States, despite mounting calls to do so.
Topics: illegal immigration, temporary status, adjust status, illegal immigrants, deportation, order, amnesty, natural disasters, earthquake, DHS, enforcement
By DEVIN DWYER and TEDDY DAVIS
ABC News
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2010—
"TPS is in the range of considerations right
now," Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said.
"But our primary focus remains on saving lives."
Several liberal groups and members of Congress are urging the
administration to grant the special protection to an estimated 30,000
Haitians with orders to leave. The designation would allow them to live
and work freely in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve
and the status could be revoked.
But conservative immigration groups, including at least one
Republican congressman, said such a move amounts to a slippery slope to
"amnesty" and could stoke a political controversy on immigration.
"This sounds to me like open borders advocates exercising the Rahm
Emanuel axiom: 'Never let a crisis go to waste,'" Rep. Steve King,
R-Iowa, said in an e-mail message to ABCNews. "Illegal immigrants from
Haiti have no reason to fear deportation, but if they are deported,
Haiti is in great need of relief workers, and many of them could be a
big help to their fellow Haitians."
By law, the secretary of Homeland Security can offer temporary
protected status to illegal immigrants of a particular nationality if
calamities such as natural disasters or war make it too burdensome for
their home countries to receive them.
El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia and Sudan currently have temporary protective status designations.
Immigrants without criminal records and residing in the United
States at the time the new status is extended simply pay a fee to apply
for temporary protected status and then receive protection for up to 18
months.
Granting Protected Status to Haitians Could Stir Immigration Debate
Even though temporary protected status, by itself, does not lead to
permanent resident status or a green card, the government can -- and
often does -- renew it repeatedly as conditions warrant. That troubles
immigration opponents.
"Apparently, there's nothing temporary
about a temporary protected status order, and we do not want to see
millions of Haitian refugees permanently transplanted to the United
States in the middle of the economic nightmare we're in the middle of,"
William Gheen, president of the conservative Americans for Legal
Immigration PAC, said.
Dan Stein, president of the conservative Federation for American
Immigration Reform, said in a statement that while he supports
temporary suspension of deportations to Haiti, temporary protective
status has been abused in the past.
"It is incumbent upon our national leaders to not only act
compassionately but to act responsibly," he said. "In some cases, such
as TPS for citizens of El Salvador, the triggering event occurred
nearly a decade ago."
While some of the most conservative opponents of illegal
immigration oppose temporary protected status, several Republicans are
calling for it to be extended to Haitians. Shortly after Tuesday's
quake, Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario
Diaz-Balart -- all GOP House members from Florida -- sent a letter to
President Obama reiterating their earlier pleas for TPS for Haitians.
"The combined destruction from today's catastrophic earthquake and
the previous storms clearly makes forced repatriation of Haitians
hazardous to their safety at this time. We strongly believe that it is
for such a situation that Congress created TPS," the letter read.
Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Florida Democrat, went further Wednesday,
saying it is "not only immoral but irresponsible to continue to deny
Haitians TPS."
Still, given the politically charged immigration debate, the
administration's decision to grant even "temporary" relief to thousands
of illegal immigrants is not being taken lightly.
The Obama administration, like its predecessor, has denied
Haitians' repeated previous requests for temporary protective status
since the fall of 2008, after four hurricanes and tropical storms
killed hundreds of people, destroyed Haiti's food crops and caused
nearly $1 billion in damage.
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